Shopify theme plays an important role in increasing sales for any online site. When it comes to how to find an ideal Shopify theme, shop owners have to consider not only the attractive look of the theme but also how the design can help to boost conversions. Since there is a variety of Shopify theme available, shop owners can have numerous options to choose from. However, making the best choice of thousands is the hardest step. If you want to avoid confusion, keep reading this post because now we are going to provide you some tips for choosing the right Shopify theme.

Using best practices

Thousands of online stores are using “best practices” and making countless sales for their stores. What is “best practices”? It refers to the certain criteria of a Shopify theme including:

Easy-to-see “add to cart” and other action buttons

Well-placed product information

Large photo galleries

Fast and easy checkout

The practices above have been proven to not only engage customers in your stores but stimulate them to start making a purchase. By focusing on the conventions for placement, icons, interactions, and wording which are familiar to shoppers, best practices can reduce the cognitive load for purchasers so they can immediately get on with the shopping.

Generally, before accepted into the official Shopify theme store, each theme has to go through an extensive review process to ensure that best practices are included in so that the theme will be widely adopted. If a Shopify theme marketplace is telling you that their themes are more exciting or creative but they are poorly sold, it should be noted that these themes may not be reviewed carefully before being put on sale. In some cases, not only they are poorly-designed or the support services are less reliable but these themes do not convert visitors to customers.

Some shop owners say that Shopify themes using best practices are boring because they look all the same. This isn’t the case for some reasons. First, a vast majority of Shopify store owners are using these layouts so having the similar structure for your site is not always a bad idea. It can be a good starting point, especially for new e-commerce businesses. Second, flexible Shopify themes allow admin to easily edit typography, colors, and other elements so you can create a different look. Third, you should bear in mind that your goal is making more sales. So even your site doesn’t have unique look, it doesn’t matter because it is more important to convert visitors to customers and boost the sales volume for your store. And a theme encompassed with best practices can perfectly help you with that.

Avoiding complexity

An ideal Shopify theme would be the one which is friendly and easy-to-use for shoppers. So, you should avoid using themes with unfamiliar features which may be “ahead of time” or too confusing for shoppers to use. Those features could be:

Non-traditional navigation systems

Alternative takes to add products to cart

Different product page layouts

“Mobile-first” features

Using an advanced theme with above features are not always a bad idea but it requires you to know about your target customers and their style very well, otherwise, it will turn to a complex, confusing theme which ultimately reduces the conversion rate. The safer choice is usual themes which truly friendly to shoppers and are more likely to convert.

In conclusion, before making your own choice, you need to consider both your store’s requirements as well as your target audience. Don’t let your own preferences to interfere with the chance of making the highest conversion rate for your store.

If you are running a new e-commerce site and not sure about your target audience yet, you are recommended to use traditional Shopify themes which provide a straightforward way for shoppers to browse the product, add it to cart and buy it. For shop owners who are targeting at the tech-savvy audience, using advanced themes with innovative design can be a good idea. Even if that, it is important to consider whether the theme resonates with actual shoppers.

Hope that you can find the right Shopify theme after reading this post!